“She’s working a case with me. Listen, I need a favor.”

  “Who doesn’t?” Mouse sighed, and looked over at Katie, who was starting to attract stares from the athletes. “Hey, that’s far enough, doll!”

  Katie walked over to the counter. “Between the two of us, I’d say you’re more doll-size than I am.”

  “Oh, and she’s got a mouth, too, eh?” Mouse sneered.

  “Maybe I need to introduce you two,” Corrigan said. “Mouse here was the best jockey ever born in the Bronx. Taught me the ropes on the Steeplechase ride. Miss Silver here happens to be the best attraction designer ever born in Brighton Beach, man or woman.”

  As Katie and Mouse looked each other over warily, Corrigan opened his billfold and slid a five-dollar note across the counter. “Now, whaddya know about some of the roughhouse stuff goin’ on over at Steeplechase?”

  Mouse squinted hungrily at the bill. “Anything I tell ya is on the QT, right?”

  Corrigan nodded. “Deal.”

  Mouse took the bill and held it up to his face.

  “Aw, hell. Thought this was gonna be ten dollars. Can’t win ’em all,” he said, pocketing the note and lowering his voice. “Word is that old man Tilyou’s gots troubles. Money troubles. Might have to sell the park. Might be buildin’ some hotels, gamin’ houses. You know the scene.”

  Corrigan and Katie glanced at each other.

  “Now that is interesting,” Corrigan said thoughtfully.

  “Yeah, so’s the obituaries every mornin’. Keep it under your hat.” Mouse spat this out with a last squint at Katie before returning to his paper. “Ladies should wear a hat. Even in here.”

  “Gloves, too,” Katie observed. “Boxing gloves.”

  She playfully jabbed at Mouse’s nose, causing the startled man to drop his paper.

  Grinning broadly, Corrigan escorted Katie toward the door. “You’re okay, Miss Silver. I guess you’re hired.”

  “Then I suppose you may call me Katie,” she said. “Seeing as we’re in business together.”

  “‘Katie and Corrigan.’ It does have a certain ring to it.”

  Stepping out onto the empty and now darkened boardwalk, they passed an alley between the club and a wharf warehouse. From inside, a light flared to life, illuminating the face of a man standing in the shadows.

  “Hey, you Corrigan?” the man asked.

  “Why?” Corrigan replied, on his guard. “He owe ya money?”

  The man stepped forward. The darkness of his three days’ growth of beard eerily contrasted with the bone-white pallor of his skin.

  “Yeah. Payable in a pound of flesh.”

  Lunging forward, the man slammed a baseball bat over Corrigan’s head.

  Chapter 16

  “Stand up when someone’s talkin’ to ya!”

  The hood pulled Corrigan up off the ground, only to slam him across the face again—this time with his fist. Katie grabbed for the baseball bat in his other hand and yanked it hard. The man let go, causing Katie to fall backward onto Corrigan. They both went down onto the dirty boardwalk. Using the bat, Katie swung at the attacker’s leg, cuffing him in the shin. He let out a yelp of pain and then kicked upward, slamming the wooden weapon against Katie’s face. The bat noisily clattered out of her reach as the limping hood’s footsteps took off in the opposite direction.

  Corrigan was bleeding from his forehead, but his first instinct was to reach over to Katie, who was pressing her hand against her nose.

  “Do you think it’s broken?” she asked in a shaky and muffled nasal tone.

  “Wiggle it,” Corrigan said.

  Katie worked her bloody nose back and forth.

  “You’ll be all right. Though you’re going to have to stock up on at least a pint of face powder to cover the black-and-blue you’ll be showing tomorrow morning.”

  They both struggled to their feet and dusted off their clothes.

  “Why didn’t he rob us?” Katie wondered aloud.

  “That was purely a social call, a warning,” Corrigan observed. “I should have told ya before ya signed up that there might be a price to pay for sticking your nose in other people’s business.”

  “I understand. How’s your head?” She lifted his hand to view the nasty gash across his hairline.

  “Probably better than his shin. You learn quickly, partner.”

  “If I do, it’s because I’m learning from a master,” she replied. “Now you can walk me home. And we’ll clean up that cut of yours.”

  Katie turned to start walking away, but Corrigan hung back, gazing at her with an uncharacteristic look in his eye.

  “What?” she asked.

  Corrigan hesitated. “This ain’t really the time or the place, but…”

  He stepped forward and, taking her chin in his hands, slowly leaned in and kissed her. Katie tensed and started to push away but then felt herself give in. Corrigan stepped back and looked at her.

  “That heartbreakin’ smile…looks even better with a bloody nose,” he said.

  “Oh!” Katie’s hand flew up to her injury. “I completely forgot! I must look a fright!”

  “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

  “Bet you say the same to all your ‘partners,’” Katie said pointedly.

  Before Corrigan could reply, they heard footsteps running toward them in the darkness ahead.

  “Sounds like our friend wants his slugger back,” Corrigan said as he reached into his jacket for his gun.

  A dark figure jogged toward them. Corrigan raised his gun but then, sighing, lowered it as the man’s face came into view.

  “Jeez, Frankie,” he said. “This isn’t the kinda neighborhood where it’s a good idea to rush people,” he exclaimed.

  The bushy-haired young cop trotted to a stop and put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

  “Sorry, Jake, but there’s been trouble and I’ve been looking all over for you!”

  Corrigan and Katie exchanged a worried look.

  “Now what?” Corrigan asked angrily.

  “The Water Chutes ride. A little girl…”

  Alarmed, Katie stepped forward. “What happened? Not another accident?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Frankie said. “Girl got stuck at the top of the tower and…”

  Katie’s hands flew to her ears but she couldn’t block the young cop’s words.

  “And she fell. She’s dead.”

  Chapter 17

  Corrigan reached out to Katie just as she slumped forward. He pulled her close to his chest and she began to sob uncontrollably. He rocked her soothingly in his arms for a moment and then nodded at Frankie.

  “Okay, I’m going to take Miss Silver home, then I’ll be over—”

  “No!” Katie cried, extracting herself from Corrigan’s embrace. “I’m going, too.”

  “Katie—”

  Forcibly pulling herself together, Katie shook her head at Corrigan. “I’m going with you. It’s my ride, and I need to see what happened. Let’s go.”

  Sensing that he would not win this argument, Corrigan relented, and the three hurried across the park to the Water Chutes attraction.

  It was a long haul, and they had to make their way through the thick happy crowds of people who were unaware of the unfolding drama. Finally, they could see the top of the Water Chutes tower against the night sky, lit up by several ground searchlights.

  At the base of the Chutes attraction, a mob of onlookers craned their necks in an attempt to see the accident scene; a team of policemen kept them back. Holding Katie’s hand, Corrigan pushed his way through the masses and spied the stooped lead officer as he huddled with Caps and another policeman.

  “Murdoch, what’s the story this time?” Corrigan asked.

  “Oh, hey, Jake. Holy cow, what happened to ya? And the lady!” He peered at their injuries.

  “Ran into each other tryin’ to catch a fly ball. What happened here?”

  “A stupid, unnecessary tragedy,” Murdoch said as he held out a hefty piece of wood split nearly in two by a diagonal crack.

  “What are you talking about?” Katie demanded.

  “This beam snapped when the little girl stepped on it,” Murdoch explained. “Looks like it was weakened by the weight of those elephants the other day.” Then he asked with exasperation, “What idiot thought the structure could take that kind of load?”

  Caps anxiously stepped forward. “This is no time to point fingers, officer. Publicly, at least. I think we should—”

  “Wait a minute!” Katie seethed. “I’m the ‘idiot’ who knew the structure was plenty strong enough. We reinforced those beams far more than necessary. It could have held ten elephants.”

  Katie grabbed the wood out of Murdoch’s hands and began examining it closely, turning it over and over. Murdoch put his hands on it to take it back, but Katie clung to the beam. The two engaged in an undignified tugging match until Murdoch huffed loudly, “This is evidence, miss! We need it for the investigation—and we don’t need it tampered with.”

  Katie spun around. “Mr. Caps, this was no accident. I assure you that—”

  “Miss Silver! I advise you not to say anything more.” Caps sternly glared at her. “We will get to the bottom of this incident. Meanwhile, we don’t need any innuendos further damaging the reputation of this park. It’s suffered enough lately…from these ill-conceived stunt attractions.”

  Sensing that Katie was about to take a swing at her boss, Corrigan warningly gripped her shoulders from behind. Summoning all her restraint, Katie stifled her fury by turning away from the frowning park manager.

  “I’m gonna escort the lady home,” Corrigan said. “As you can see, she’s had a hard day—and night.”

  Caps gave Corrigan a disdainful look up and down.

  “And just who are you, sir?” he demanded. “What is your capacity in the park’s business?”

  Corrigan gave the park manager his iciest stare. “I’m the guy in charge of walking Miss Silver home,” he said. “And that’s as much as you need to know.”

  He had to practically drag Katie through the crowd. Caps watched them go with a dubious expression.

  Corrigan tried to calm Katie’s worries but she remained determinedly silent until they approached a dilapidated boardinghouse with one dim light aglow over the porch.

  “Where are we?” Katie asked, suddenly noticing her surroundings.

  “Home sweet home!” Corrigan grinned. “I think this is a good time for you to meet the other woman in my life.”

  Katie stared at him angrily. “I’m in no mood for jokes or bantering or whatever it is that you are doing, Mr. Corr—”

  “I know you’re not. You just gotta trust me that there is only one thing that’s going to make you feel better tonight.” Corrigan bowed with a flourish and nodded toward the front steps.

  Sighing, Katie reluctantly climbed them, and just as she got to the porch, the front door opened and a plump, red-faced woman came bustling out.

  “Well, it’s high time, Mr. Jake Corrigan. Your missy hasn’t given me a moment’s peace all evening,” the proprietress brayed. Then she glanced at Katie. “And who’s this? Another gal? And what happened to your nose, darlin’? No, tell me later—let’s get you inside.”

  She energetically hustled Katie and Corrigan into her front parlor. Once they were safely inside, Corrigan turned to Katie and introduced the woman as Mrs. Kearny.

  Katie looked around, mystified, but before she could get her bearings, Mrs. Kearny placed a blanket-wrapped bundle into her arms.

  “You may as well get to know her now,” Mrs. Kearny said. “The little one only has eyes for Mr. Corrigan and won’t take note of anyone else when he’s around. I’ll get you some fresh water and bandages.…”

  With that, Mrs. Kearny busily sailed out of the room, leaving the two standing in the foyer. Katie was completely adrift.

  “This is your…child?” she said.

  “Yes…and no.” Corrigan chuckled. “Come upstairs and I’ll fill you in.”

  Katie looked doubtfully down at the bundle. Not ten minutes later, the baby was laid out on a bed, happily gurgling and reaching up for Katie’s fingers as she tried to bathe Corrigan’s injury.

  “She’s such a sweetheart,” Katie said, already thoroughly charmed. “What’s her name?”

  “Doesn’t have one,” Corrigan said. “I don’t want to get too attached.”

  Katie watched him dotingly rub the baby’s stomach. “I’d say it’s a little late for that.”

  “Ya got me there. I’m a goner,” Corrigan said, reaching for Katie’s hand. “Will you stay with us?”

  “Here?” Katie instinctively pulled back her hand. “An unmarried woman alone with an unmarried man and an orphaned infant?”

  Corrigan shrugged and picked up the baby. “After all that’s happened today, I figured an indecent proposal would seem pretty minor.”

  Katie laughed and took in the unlikely sight of a tough guy with a glaring head wound coddling a baby that smiled up at him with enchantment.

  “You’re unconventional, Jake. I’ll give you that,” she said. “But then again, I suppose I am, too.”

  Corrigan grinned at her and pulled her down on the bed.

  “Gonna take that as a yes.”

  Chapter 18

  Coney Island, 2017

  He silently brushed the hair back from her face and ran his finger across her lips. She was surprised by his gentleness and by the unhurried way he caressed and explored her features. She couldn’t help but think about how long it had been since someone held her—simply held her. He lowered his face to hers, his sparkling blue eyes looking warmly into hers. Embarrassed, Katie blinked.

  No one was there.

  She blinked rapidly again and then sat up and looked around. She was in the familiar surroundings of her room at the boardinghouse. The same unwashed sheets, the same mismatched furniture, the same view of the lonely overcast sky and the placid blue-gray ocean beneath it.

  And the same empty Scotch bottle next to her nightstand.

  Katie fell back on the bed and the dull pain in her shoulder triggered dim recollections of the previous evening’s events. A hazy vision of the ambulance ride gave way to fractured images of a bored-looking female doctor examining her and then the flickering film of an absurdly young cop escorting her to the door of her room at the boardinghouse. The memories were both reassuringly vague and maddeningly indelible.

  Hoisting herself out of bed, Katie tried to shake her head clear. This sense of disorientation was becoming as familiar as her surroundings. But at least her recollections of the previous night were clearly grounded in reality—unlike the extraordinarily intricate dreams and the jarring images that kept flashing across her mind. Recalling with embarrassment Shears’s words about the rumors of her recent behavior, Katie wondered if the time had come to seek professional help.

  She slid on some jeans and then opened her door and staggered down the same empty hall to the same community bathroom.

  She tried the knob on the stall door only to find it once again locked.

  “Let me guess,” she sighed.

  A male voice cracked, “Hold yer water, honey. Almost done.”

  “Do you live in there?” Katie asked with exasperation. “Other people have bodily functions, too, you know.”

  The door swung open and a disheveled-looking guy with mussed hair and multiple days’ growth of beard stepped out. Grinning broadly, he gave Katie a disconcertingly direct stare—with his sparkling blue eyes.

  Katie staggered backward. It was the man from her dream! The one who had held her and held a baby and—

  “All yours, Miss Silver.”

  Washing his hands with exaggerated dignity, the man stumbled out into the hallway, leaving the astonished Katie staring after him. She looked over at the mirror and slapped herself; she prayed that she had only dreamed that she was awake. When nothing changed, she went to the sink and splashed cold water on her face—and had an instant flashback to the icy chill of the chute ride.

  “What is going on?” she asked her mystified reflection. Completely at sea, Katie slid down to the floor like a child. “Am I just starting to lose my mind, or has it already happened?”

  As if in response, the bathroom door burst loudly open. A man in a dark coat with an old-fashioned cut stepped in and looked down at Katie. She gasped—it was another man from her dream! He was extraordinarily pale and had a reddish-colored beard. He’d had a gun in the dream. And he held one now.

  “Surprised to see me?” he rasped down at her. “Stand up when someone’s talkin’ to ya!”

  Stepping forward, he went to whip his gun across Katie’s face, but—acting purely on reflex—she dived between his legs and slithered across the floor. Her lightning-quick movement threw him off-balance and he fell sideways into the open stall.

  Katie heaved herself up and sprang out the bathroom door. Barefoot and dressed in only an oversize T-shirt and jeans, she tore down the hallway. Looking back, she saw the man come out of the bathroom and start after her. Katie flung herself down a flight of stairs and across the empty boardinghouse lobby.

  She darted out onto Surf Avenue, where there were only a few people about: a smartly dressed older couple walking a dog and a strung-out junkie curled up on a nearby bench. Katie ran over to the couple.

  “Help me! A man is chasing me! Call the police!” she screamed at them.

  The frightened couple backed away from Katie, who, in her disarray and panic, looked like a crazy person. Completely distraught, she looked back and saw the man step onto the avenue and head toward her.

  Katie ran in the only direction she could: straight toward the sea. She flew across the empty beach and made a dash for the pilings underneath a long pier. She ran into the sheltering darkness under the pier and hid behind one of the wooden columns standing stoically in the churning waves. She looked out at the beach and saw the dark figure still running toward her, so she pushed off from the beam and moved farther into the water.

  A huge wave suddenly swelled underneath and then over Katie, knocking her into the surf. Out of breath and exhausted with panic, Katie was thrashing about under the water, struggling to regain her footing, when a hand grabbed her shoulder. She tried to fight but was overwhelmed by another wave. Now two hands cupped beneath her armpits and hauled her up.

 

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